


An Unexpected Reunion at An Unexpected Place

by bb9e



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars : Phasma - Delilah S. Dawson, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Finn-centric, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:12:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bb9e/pseuds/bb9e
Summary: I suggest you read the phasma novel before reading this!





	An Unexpected Reunion at An Unexpected Place

 “It feels odd,” Finn murmurs.

 It unambiguously is odd—when Finn was summoned, it was usually, no, _invariably,_ Captain Phasma who was waiting for him. Every time Finn showed _eccentric, disputable behavior_ —such as being loath to abandon his peers—she called him. In no sense did Finn revel in time with Phasma beyond a doubt, but at least, when he was with her, he knew what he would come up against. He perceived what provoked her displeasure. He discerned what he should be prepared for. Now, this is a far cry from the experience in the First Order and yet it still panics him. Not like the way Captain Phasma and the First Order did, but still.

 “Poe, just tell me the truth,” Disoriented, Finn says to the pilot walking right next to him. They are inside the Resistance base on D’Qar and Finn has visited this corridor once—which gives him one more reason to be in a state of confusion. There are nothing except storages here.

 “Finn, I told you. There’s someone who’d like to meet you in private.”

 “But that doesn’t make any sense! Why would they want to meet me?”

 “Finn, how many times do I have to tell you? You’re, you’re a _hero_ ,” Poe Dameron says with emphasis, reverence suffused in his eyes. Finn is still not used to it when people stare at him with such idolatry. “Of course everyone wants to meet you. But this person is really special. We had no choice but to arrange this meeting.”

 “Is it Rey?” A vestige of hope remained unabated cocks up its head again.

 “No, buddy. It’s not Rey.” Poe shakes his head. “But you’ll be happy to see him, really.”

_But how can he make me happy if he’s not Rey?_

 “Chewbacca?” Finn has heard from one of the Resistance that Finn and Rey received great assistance from that hairy Wookiee while escaping from the Starkiller Base. Finn gratefully acknowledges that.

 Poe holds back his laughter. “No, Finn.”

 “Poe, you know I was a stormtrooper, right? Besides Rey and Chewbacca, I know no one. The first Order doesn’t really value friendship.”

 “Here.”

 Poe stops and points toward the door. It is, exactly as Finn expected, just the door of one small storage, closed. As Finn stands in front of it, he realizes Poe isn’t coming any closer.

 “So you’re not going in?”

 “I think he’d like to talk to you alone first.”

 “...Alright,” Finn says, lingering at the door. “But stay there. Don’t leave, okay?”

 “Sure,” Poe replies as he shrugs his shoulders.

 

 There is a person sitting on one of the small boxes. As Finn closes the door sluggishly with his back pushing it, the person rises from his seat and turns around to face Finn. Finn has never looked the man full in the face until now. As one of the most gifted cadets, he acquired an opportunity to sit close to the man at mealtimes. Finn’s inquiring spirit couldn’t impede himself leering at the man, although he knew stealing a covert glance at his captain wouldn’t eventuate a good result if he got caught. Retracing his past actions, Finn realized after a long time that the Captain had pretended he didn't know what Finn was doing. 

 The man now isn’t wearing his red armor and his hair style has changed but Finn recognizes the man straight away.

 “Hello,” the man utters a word first because judging by the face, Finn looks so wholly shocked that it’ll take some time for him to array his senses back. “I heard you are called Finn now.”

 “...Captain Cardinal,” Finn susurrates.

 With an indulgent smile on his face, the man comes close to Finn, opening his arms wide. Such action is considered not only strange but aberrant in the First Order.

 “Can I hug you?”

 Dumbfounded, Finn slowly nods. He thinks perhaps he should repel the man’s arms, as the man is the part of the First Order, but he can’t because he _did_ miss this man, quite a lot.

 Finn never relished his life in the _Absolution_ , but ironically, Finn used to be invigorated by Captain Cardinal, who was in charge of his training program. Cardinal treasured his cadets. He respected every individual. He never verbalized affection for his cadets, but the kids including Finn fathomed the cause of Cardinal’s heartfelt teaching easily: they were being loved. When Finn knew Cardinal was proud of him, when Cardinal lauded him, an exuberance of delight germinated inside him, although, it abated right away every time when the coercive indoctrination tried to squash his hope. The first day in the _Finalizer_ , Finn yowled. The disjunction between Phasma and Cardinal discombobulated him. Cardinal attached significance to rules and orders as well, but Phasma was beyond it. Cardinal’s aim was to teach kids to grow up as good soldiers whereas Phasma’s was to transform them into orders themselves.

 The more Phasma endeavored to eradicate Finn’s sentiment, the more it unremittingly abided. The more Phasma strived to turn him into a machine, the more he pined for freedom.

 “I... I thought you were ill.”

 “That’s what they told you? That I’m ill?”

 Finn finds it hard to adjust to Cardinal’s longer hair. Furthermore, the word ‘weird’ is not powerful enough to convey how stupefied he is after witnessing his former instructor wearing the new clothes. They, though, look good on him. “No, they said you went on a mission to a nameless planet, but I never believed it. You always loved us. I knew you wouldn’t gonna leave the children. At least, not like that fast.”

 When General Hux announced Captain Cardinal ‘went on a mission’ every cadet in the ship was shattered. Phasma was successfully turning stormtroopers into killing machines bereft of feelings, but their memories were still there.

 “At night, we would secretly discuss where you’d be. Like, running away from the First Order because you found a love of your life. But the Resistance... was the last thing I thought.”

 Finn can incontestably recollect the days with Cardinal. It was plainly visible that Cardinal seemed delightful when all of Finn’s 10 shots hit the target, which was a head of a New Republic soldier.

 “I don’t think I can say I’m part of the Resistance,” he replied. “I do give them information, sometimes. But I didn’t pledge allegiance, either. It’s undeniable that The First Order is nothing but a heinous criminal organization. That’s true, but...” He speaks vaguely.

 “I understand you. You want to leave everything behind and run off to an Outer Rim planet, right? Looking back everything you’ve been through, you just want to stay away from the war as far as possible and just, rest. I know that feeling, Captain—”

 Finn hesitates. Just like Finn doesn’t want to use the name FN-2187 anymore—now Finn wonders if that number deserves the title ‘name’—it is likely that Cardinal would feel the same.

 “Archex. Just call me Archex. That’s the name I used before the First Order took me from Jakku.”

 “I like your name.”

 “Thank you.” Archex truly rejoices over the Finn’s response. “So you are joining the Resistance?”

 “I...” Finn pauses on a word.

 “You don’t have to be afraid of being different, Finn. You can have your own thoughts. You can choose your opinions here.”

 Finn has never expected to hear such words from his erstwhile instructor and they are emboldening him. Finn opines, “I don’t know. I didn’t try to be a hero. I just wanted to help my friends, do what’s right—and that led me here. I love people in this base; Poe is amazing and General Organa showed generosity in me that I don’t think I deserve. If joining the Resistance brings me what I value, I’ll do it right now. Now, I’m still a lil confused. though.”

 “You are not afraid of losing? You are not afraid of getting killed?”

 “Of course I’m afraid, but—”

 The inexorable rush of crimson flames in the azure sky, effacing not only the planets, but also thousands, millions of memories and waves of laughter citizens in those planets could have shared in the future. Finn can retrieve the memories of that day terribly well. A jolt of frustration at his uselessness when he couldn’t do anything to interrupt Kylo Ren kidnapping his friend to localize Luke Skywalker, our last hope. When Kylo Ren threw Rey toward the tree, Finn realized he couldn’t act like selfish any longer. _He had never been able to be selfish in his life._ The monster said,  _That lightsaber. It belongs to me._ He yelled, _Come and get it._

 “When I see them hurting my friends, when I see them killing innocent citizens, I forget everything. _I fight._ ” He tried to act egocentric, except that he couldn’t. “I _am_ afraid. I want to run away—but I know it’s the right thing to do.”

 Archex scrutinizes Finn without saying anything. Finn can’t gauge his old instructor’s reaction.

 _The First Order did have a monster._ Archex thinks to himself. _But not the monster they’ve been craving. They’ve made their greatest foe._

 “The First Order won’t let your friends and citizens alive,” Archex finally opens his mouth, talking in a much grave manner. “Unless they are useful.”

 “Useful, you mean?”

 “Being a great tool, Finn. Just like how you were trained by Phasma.” As the word Phasma is mentioned, Finn can detect the contorted anger churning inside Archex’s tired eyes. It evanesces as he reopens his mouth. “... And I trained you too. I didn’t know about anything, Finn. I didn’t know what Phasma, Hux, Kylo Ren and other First Order Officers were up to. I was blind. They must have scoffed at me behind my back.”

 “Cap, I mean, Archex, sorry—it’s not your fault. You really cared about us. You loved us.”

 “Finn, you shouldn’t be too forgiving. Perhaps, the First Order taught you at least one thing right: care about yourself—but not like their way. When people do terrible things to you and ask you for forgiveness, you don't always have to give them a second chance. They will understand you if they are in deep remorse sincerely. ”

 “Yeah, just like you?” Finn chuckles and then contends vehemently. “I’m not being forgiving; I forgive you because you deserve it. I won’t forgive Captain Phasma and General Hux, who brainwashed me, tried to turn me into a murderer. I won't forgive Kylo Ren, who kidnapped and hurt my friend and murdered his own father, who was begging for him to come back. I don’t forgive them for committing genocide and pulverizing innocent people. And by them, I really mean _them_.”

 “Maybe I won’t have to worry about you so much,” Archex muses. “You are gonna do well. You’ve always known what was right.”

 In the past, Archex wasn’t aware of it. FN-2187 was deemed to be promising young recruit with one dire _weak_ point: the ability to question. Other prowess he possessed was the only thing that protected the boy from the _Absolution_ and _Finalizer_. If he had been just an average stormtrooper, the First Order wouldn’t have saved on their blasters. Finn’s body would have been marooned in the back of beyond, with a hole in his chest. Archex recalls the day he was wondering where disappeared cadets had gone. He still remembers their names, appearances, voices— _everything._ A sudden dizziness overpowers him.

 “Are you okay?” Finn cautiously stares at Cardinal’s face.

 “Yeah, Finn. I’m fine.” Archex lies. “Don’t you... Don’t you want to know what happened on that day, when I suddenly vanished?”

 Archex elaborates on things he saw and things he heard—Vi Moradi, Parnassos, the death of Brendol Hux, Captain Phasma. In spite of the fact that he’s far from a great storyteller, Finn is enthralled, oblivious of his pilot friend waiting outside. 

 “Finn, I don’t mean to interrupt you, but how long do I have to stay here?”

 “I forgot Poe!” Finn raises his head. “Hold on a second, I’ll tell him to leave... Wait, I can introduce Poe to you. You'll like him.”

 “That would be my pleasure, Isn’t Poe Dameron one of the best pilots in the galaxy?”

 “He’s _the_ best pilot in the galaxy. Okay, I’ll bring him here,” Finn says as they look eyes with each other, as they both comfort themselves by the fact their old friend looks happier than ever. Then Finn scurries to the corridor.

 _This boy is gonna join the Resistance_ , _I know it._ Archex thinks, staring at the stitches on Finn’s jacket.

_And once he decides, nothing will be able to stop him._

 

 


End file.
